Last night President Obama delivered his 2012 State of the Union address to Congress and the Country.

In his speech, the President emphasized college affordability and job-training as a central tenant in his plan to improve the economy, proposing that Congress penalize institutions for increasing tuition rates, stop student loan interest rates from doubling in July 2012 and extend education tax cuts.

The Presidents comments on higher education derive from the release of the President’s  “Blueprint for an America Built to Last“.

Obama states in the Blueprint that  “College costs are escalating at an unsustainable pace. Even after adjusting for inflationaverage published cost of tuition and fees at a four-year public university has increased by 136% in the last 20 years. This Administration has made college more affordable by continuing to increase the maximum Pell Grant award by more than $800 and creating the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college.”

To keep college affordable, Obama called on Congress to do the following:   

• Keep tuition from spiraling too high: The President is proposing to shift some Federal aid away from colleges that don’t keep net tuition down and provide good value
• Preventing student loan interest rates from doubling: The President called on Congress to stop the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans from doubling on July 1 of this year, so young people don’t have as much debt to repay.
• Doubling the number of work-study jobs: The President wants to reward students who are willing to work hard by doubling over five years the number of work-study jobs for college students who agree to work their way through school.
• Permanently extending tuition tax breaks that provide up to $10,000 for four years of college: The President is proposing to make the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent, maintaining a tax cut that provides up to $10,000 for tuition over four years of college.

In addition, Obama’s Blueprint calls for a new competitive program that will challenge states and districts to work with their teachers and unions to comprehensively reform the teaching profession by:

• Reforming colleges of education and making these schools more selective;
• Creating new career ladders for teachers to become more effective, and ensuring that earnings are tied more closely to performance;
• Establishing more leadership roles and responsibilities for teachers in running schools; improving professional development and time for collaboration among teachers; and providing greater individual and collective autonomy in the classroom in exchange for greater accountability;
• Creating evaluation systems based on multiple measures, rather than just test scores;
• Re-shaping tenure to raise the bar, protect good teachers, and promote accountability.